In renovation, the unexpected is a certainty. What sets a controlled site apart is how it anticipates and handles surprises without letting the budget slip. Performance BTP holds the financial helm.
Every serious budget includes a contingency provision (10 to 15%). Behind an old wall may lurk ageing pipework or a failing substrate. This margin is not waste: it is what avoids stopping the site or cutting into essentials when the surprise hits.
Any extra work must be the subject of a written, costed variation, approved before execution — never a verbal agreement that becomes a surprise invoice. Performance BTP frames these variations: justified, properly costed, and compatible with the budget envelope.
Faced with the unexpected, decide quickly and wisely: what must be dealt with, what can wait, which solution offers the best cost/benefit. Informed arbitration avoids both overkill and risk-taking. This is where a supervisor's experience saves money.
Across our experience of 80+ supervised projects, budget overruns always have the same causes: poor initial diagnosis (concealed works not detected — hence the importance of a prior audit), programme changes mid-project (every change costs 15-20% more than if it had been planned), defects to rectify (a rework costs 3 to 5 times more than correct initial execution), structural surprises (asbestos, termites, hidden corrosion). Our rule: always budget 10 to 15% contingency on any renovation budget. That is not pessimism — it is professional management.
A variation order is a contract modification resulting in a price change. Without proper control, variation orders are the primary source of budget overruns. We enforce a strict protocol: every variation must be requested in writing, priced before execution, and approved by you before any work begins. We systematically negotiate the price of each variation — contractors tend to mark up additional works significantly. On our supervised projects, the total value of variation orders averages 8% of the original contract, compared to 20-35% on projects without project management assistance.
Every week, you receive an updated financial dashboard: contract values signed by package, amounts invoiced and paid, remaining to pay, variation orders in progress, forecast overrun or saving. This dashboard lets you make informed decisions: if one package is drifting, you can make trade-offs on a lower-priority package before it is too late. We alert you as soon as a drift of more than 5% is detected on any package — without waiting until the end of the project.
On a site in the Paris region, opening a wall revealed a beam weakened by damp, undetectable beforehand. Rather than panic, the call was immediate: targeted reinforcement drawn from the contingency provision, without touching the schedule or the rest of the budget. The site continued without overrun.
Always set aside 10 to 15% of your budget for contingencies, and don't dip into it for last-minute wants. This envelope is your safety net for genuine surprises — not a kitty for extras.
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